It is well known that wet/dry vacuum cleaners such as those known as utility vacs and carpet extractors, operate in an environment in which the debris, which is extracted from the surface being cleaned, is laden in a mixture of air and water. In order to prevent the moisture laden air from entering the vacuum generating motor, bypass motors are typically used in these operations. As is known to those skilled in the art, a bypass motor/fan assembly is one which the working air, generated by a working air fan, never passes through the motor and is totally isolated from the motor. The motor itself may have a separate motor cooling air fan which draws cooling air over the motor armature and field. Accordingly, the working air and the motor cooling air take totally separate paths, and do not mix—except possibly in an exhaust area. While both the motor cooling fan and the working fan operate on the same motor shaft, in a bypass motor, the chambers for the working air and motor cooling air are separate and distinct from each other such that moisture laden air never enters the motor assembly.
Bypass motors have a working air fan at an end of the motor/fan shaft, with the fan rotating within an enclosure which is sometimes called a shroud. The shroud may be a separately manufactured part or it may be an integral part of the vacuum assembly. In any event, the enclosure, along with a fan end bracket, defines a chamber within which the fan operates. One portion of the fan enclosure is provided with an air intake, with a circumference or periphery of the enclosure defined by a single outlet tube or a plurality of spaced apart exhaust apertures. The intake aperture communicates with a vacuum chamber and the cleaning device, while the exhaust apertures communicate with the ambient air. Typically, the enclosure simply defines the chamber in which the fan rotates and accordingly, that chamber becomes pressurized such that the air therein eventually finds its way to an exhaust port.
Assembly of these fan motor assemblies includes many different parts. Typically, the motor housing includes a slot or section that holds a pair of motor brushes which are placed in contact with the commutator of the motor assembly. Each motor brush is slidably contained within a tube, wherein the tube is secured to the motor housing by a strap secured with fasteners. Known fan end bracket assemblies position and orient the motor shaft with an inserted press-fit motor bearing. Retaining the bearing in this manner is problematic in that the bearing may loosen from the end bracket and cause damage to the motor. Although it is known to provide integrated brush box support with the motor housing, it is not known to use a retainer with the brush boxes to retain the motor bearing.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a motor/fan assembly with an integrated brush support and bearing retainer which reduces the number of parts and thus the number of manufacturing operations.